By Jung Min-ho
INCHEON ― With the explosive growth of online learning and the rapid expansion of mobile computing, information and communication technologies (ICT) will play a much bigger role in education for the next 15 years, UNESCO said in a report.
This message was highlighted at the World Education Forum at the Songdo Convensia, where 1,500 education experts from around the world have gathered to set out a vision for the future of global education.
At the venue from Tuesday to Thursday, visitors are learning what future learning will be like through many exhibits and sessions.
For example, with virtual reality (VR) technology, visitors can experience what it is like to live in a refugee camp. Special VR headsets make viewers feel like they can reach out to people they see.
For children, who are distracted more easily than adults, such technology could be an effective learning tool, a volunteer said.
"For many observers the question is not whether technological innovation will change education, but when and how," the report says. "There are as many Internet-connected devices on the planet as there are people. Few doubt that technology is likely to disrupt traditional models of education."
The heart of the change is that education will be more personalized, with technology allowing each student to be taught differently, with different programs at a different speed, from the current "one-size-fits-all" approach.
High-speed mobile networks, tablet devices, the ability to process huge amounts of data at low costs, sophisticated online gaming and adaptive-learning software; all these will help the world give more children to access to education, Asha Kanwar, president of the Commonwealth of Learning, an intergovernmental organization for education, said during UNESCO's special session, "Innovating through Technology."
This will change the role of teachers as well. With ICT coming to classrooms, the job of teachers will change from an orator to a manager who is capable of indentifying the needs of each student and providing targeted help, another panel noted.
UNESCO believes that ICT will have even a greater impact in underdeveloped countries, where education systems are poor and students have to walk long distances and pay high fees to attend school.
INCHEON ― With the explosive growth of online learning and the rapid expansion of mobile computing, information and communication technologies (ICT) will play a much bigger role in education for the next 15 years, UNESCO said in a report.
This message was highlighted at the World Education Forum at the Songdo Convensia, where 1,500 education experts from around the world have gathered to set out a vision for the future of global education.
At the venue from Tuesday to Thursday, visitors are learning what future learning will be like through many exhibits and sessions.
For example, with virtual reality (VR) technology, visitors can experience what it is like to live in a refugee camp. Special VR headsets make viewers feel like they can reach out to people they see.
For children, who are distracted more easily than adults, such technology could be an effective learning tool, a volunteer said.
"For many observers the question is not whether technological innovation will change education, but when and how," the report says. "There are as many Internet-connected devices on the planet as there are people. Few doubt that technology is likely to disrupt traditional models of education."
The heart of the change is that education will be more personalized, with technology allowing each student to be taught differently, with different programs at a different speed, from the current "one-size-fits-all" approach.
High-speed mobile networks, tablet devices, the ability to process huge amounts of data at low costs, sophisticated online gaming and adaptive-learning software; all these will help the world give more children to access to education, Asha Kanwar, president of the Commonwealth of Learning, an intergovernmental organization for education, said during UNESCO's special session, "Innovating through Technology."
This will change the role of teachers as well. With ICT coming to classrooms, the job of teachers will change from an orator to a manager who is capable of indentifying the needs of each student and providing targeted help, another panel noted.
UNESCO believes that ICT will have even a greater impact in underdeveloped countries, where education systems are poor and students have to walk long distances and pay high fees to attend school.
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